The
soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Volume 1” film is a lot
like the primary elements in his films, which always seem to include a
mixture of the cool with the kitsch. Who else but Tarantino would have
had the guts to place RZA’s rap tribute to the film’s Japanese/Chinese
character Oren Ishii (played by Lucy Liu) on his disc, then later in
the album, include the middle-of-the-road pan flute sounds of Zamfir?
While RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan) is always and forever ghetto-fabulous, the
owning of a (sold only on TV) Zamfir CD might likely lead directly to
social death in many circles.

Tarantino loves movie and TV music just about as much as he digs
action-packed films, so in addition to its original music, “Kill Bill”
also features the “Green Hornet” theme, which is played rapidly on
trumpet by Al Hirt, and an excerpt from Quincy Jones’ “Ironside” theme.
“Without Honor or Humanity,” performed by Tomoyasu Hotei, may be a new
work, but it’s still retro enough to fit into the aural background of
almost any show now running (well, re-running) on cable’s TV Land.

As he has done so often in the past, Tarantino includes film dialogue
in with his musical soundtrack. “Queen of the Crime Council,” for
example, is performed by Lucy Liu and Julie Dreyfus, and is all about
the Chinese/Japanese heritage of Liu’s character. Elsewhere, “You're My
Wicked Life” incorporates dialogue from David Carradine, Dreyfus and
Uma Thurman.

The coolness vs. kitsch factor is sometimes up for debate here,
however. “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” by Nancy Sinatra is both
slow and sad. But is this “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” girl truly
hip, or just a nostalgic figure? You make the call. And is Charlie
Feathers’ “That Certain Female,” with its fast rockabilly; nothing more
than a remnant from a bygone era? “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood,”
performed by Santa Esmeralda with a whole lot of pseudo-Mexican flair,
is unquestionably un-cool for two reasons. First off, it’s disco, and
bad disco at that. Secondly, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Animals’
powerful original version. Furthermore, at 10:30 long, it’s far too
much of a bad thing.

Inclusion of the 5, 6, 7, 8’s cover of Rock A Teen’s “Woo Hoo” is
clearly hip, however, especially since this is a film that delves into
Japanese/Chinese culture, which makes it all the more fitting to have a
Japanese rock outfit aboard. The same goes for Isaac Hayes’ “Run Fay
Fun,” since his shiny shaved head is welcome at any and all parties
where the hippest of the hip go.

You may need to skip a few tracks here and there while listening to it,
but “Kill Bill” ultimately adds up to a killer soundtrack.